Exploring Ukiyo-e: Dive into the World of Japanese Art

Famous Sights of Nikkō: Hannya and Hōtō Waterfalls By Yōshū Chikanobu, 1981

Exploring Ukiyo-e: Dive into the world of Japanese Art

I am really excited about today's blog. Being able to choose a country and their artwork was fun. I am choosing Japanese Artwork from the Ukiyo-e period. My daughter is doing her Sophomore year in Japan through the student exchange program that UAF offers. Japan has been so good to her and they have such a beautiful country I thought I would showcase a peek into their artwork. Ukiyo-e means pictures of the floating world. The Ukiyo-e was established during the Edo period and was cherished as a form of mass entertainment by common people across Edo (present-day Tokyo). Its origin can be traced back to around the late 17th century. In this art style, we see a play of black and white contrasts that embody a sense of freedom reminiscent of a peaceful and uneventful era spanning about 260 years. What's captivating about this particular style is its ability to vividly portray the simple yet beautiful everyday life of the carefree common folk in Japan during the Edo period. 

History

This Artwork is titled Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Specter. It is from the Edo Period and was created by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from c. 1843 to 1847. It is located in the Honolulu Museum of Art in the United States. In the backstory of this piece, we learn about Princess Takiyasha. She was the daughter of warlord Taira Masakado. Taira Masakado led a rebellion against the court in Kyoto, but unfortunately, the rebellion was unsuccessful, leading to Masakado's demise. Following his death, the spirits of the soldiers who fought in rebellion haunted Masakado's palace at Soma. 

Analysis

In this artwork we see the princess on the left, standing in the middle of some broken blinds. She holds a scroll. Looking at it I can really appreciate the imagination of the Japanese artist for the time. Pushing the boundaries is crucial for an artist to establish themselves. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, a Japanese Artist, is a perfect example of someone who built their career pushing those boundaries. He used his work to comment on and protest against the Japanese government at the time. He brings a sense of drama and horror into this work. Instead of showing a peaceful traditional Ukiyo-e setting in this piece, Utagawa takes the dramatic setting of the fortress and applies his mastery over a more whimsical art style. The action of the skeleton crawling brings a scene of chaos and dysfunction. Kuniyoshi, through this technique, can show both one story and yet 3 individual stories at the same time. Each panel also has a story. This art has a lot of black and white and then it uses color to bring your eyes to certain parts of the art. It definitely can bring different emotions depending on how you view it. This is an interesting piece and I think it would be a neat one to have in a living room. 

History

This piece is called Russo-Japanese Naval Battle at the Entrance of Inchon: The Great Victory of the Japanese Navy BANZAI! This artwork was made by Kobayashi Kiyochika in 1904. It is kept at the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston, Massachusetts. This art shows activities from the battlefront of a war. But they also acted as propaganda, encouraging support for the wars and bringing with them patriotism. 

Analysis

In this artwork it emphasizes the bravery and success of the army and navy, using dramatic designs and bold compositions. I like the use of black and white and color red to show off the fire from the ships. It makes the pictures more dramatic bringing out those emotions of war. Then with the blue from the sailors bring your eyes to their excitement. 

History

This painting has a couple different names in different prints, but 

this is called Lovers in the Snow Beneath Umbrella (Crow and Heron) and is done by Suzuki Harunobu in 1764-1772 in the Edo period. It is kept in the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. It is a woodblock color print with the dimensions 67.5 x 12.4cm (26.5 x 4.8 in) 

Analysis

This piece has a stillness to the scene that perfectly captures the traditional Japanese aesthetic ideal of wabi. In Japanese art, Wabi is a quality of austere and serene beauty that really tries to express the mood of spiritual solitude recognized in Zen Buddhist philosophy. It has an appreciation for the quiet beauty of an unscripted moment captured in time. I really like the contrast between the young lovers. One black and one white, almost make me think that they are from different walks of life or status. But they have fallen in love. Something we all cherish. Harunobu captures the scene of a couple under an umbrella in a snowscape that shows the meaning of young love, the total identification of oneself with one's beloved. Contradictions of male and female, black and white have been subsumed under a greater idealized harmony. Showing one of the seasons, winter which is usually used for old age and death. Spring would have been more of a natural picture for love with flowers and things coming to life. This is something that I might even buy a print of for my daughter when she goes back to Japan to live. 

History

The artwork I chose is still from the Ukiyo-e Era but from later on in 1859. The Print artist is Utagawa Hiroshige II. The title is Nagasaki, The View of Maruyama. It is in a series titled: One Hundred Famous Views in the Various Provinces. Size is 36 x 23.9 cm. It is an Original Japanese woodblock print. 

Analysis

Here in this print, we see two women, they likely represent sex workers, they are in the foreground wearing classical, patterned robes. The background is positioned higher up to try and show that it is farther away. However western influences can be seen in the single-point perspective in the shapes of the building, it also has sloping lines of the porch and roof demonstrating a new stylistic development in the Ukiyo-e history.

Last Thoughts

All of the artworks that I chose are from the Ukiyo-e. The artworks are also all woodblock prints which are neat and hugely popular in to Edo period. Ukiyo-e is the name given to paintings and prints primarily depicting the transitory world of the licensed pleasure quarters, the theater and pleasure quarters, and the theater and pleasure quarters of Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. It is a composite term of uki (floating), yo (world), and e (pictures). All these artworks are neat on their own. Each shows different parts of the Japanese culture and brings different emotions. They are all really neat and if I had a Japanese room (which I might someday) I would love to get some of these prints and hang them up. The Japanese culture is much different from that of America and Europe. When new trade agreements beginning in the 1850s resulted in an unprecedented flow of goods and travelers between the West and Japan. Western appreciation for Japanese graphic art and objects quickly intensified and Japanese-influenced style irrevocably entered the lexicon of Western artistic expression. But yet at the same time, exposure to the West influenced Japanese artists and audiences. Trade was a big factor in different countries getting to experience other cultures and what those countries have to offer not just in food and goods but artwork too. The world wouldn't be what it is without all the mixings of these cultures and experiences that people have. Such a beautiful thing to experience. 

“Suzuki Harunobu: Young Lovers Walking Together under an Umbrella in a Snow Storm (Crow and Heron): Japan: Edo Period (1615–1868).” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45086. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.

“Fuji Arts.” Fuji Arts Japanese Prints - Russo-Japanese Naval Battle at the Entrance of Inchon: The Great Victory of the Japanese Navy--Banzai!, 1904 by Kiyochika (1847 - 1915), www.fujiarts.com/meiji-era-japanese-prints/kiyochika/912114-russo-japanese-naval-battle-at-the-entrance-of-inchon-the-great-victory-of-the-japanese-navy-banzai-1904. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024

清親, Kobayashi Kiyochika. “Naval Battle at the Entrance of Inchon.” Obelisk Art History, 1 Jan. 1970, www.arthistoryproject.com/artists/kobayashi-kiyochika/naval-battle-at-the-entrance-of-inchon/.

“View of Maruyama in Nagasaki: Utagawa Hiroshige II: V&A Explore the Collections.” Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections, Victoria and Albert Art Museum, collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O421027/view-of-maruyama-in-nagasaki-woodblock-print-utagawa-hiroshige-ii/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.

 

Breaking the Artistic Boundaries in the Postmodern Era

Breaking the Artistic Boundaries in the Postmodern Era

This week I will show you some art pieces from the Postmodern Era. I chose this one because this is when artists can choose to really push the boundaries of art. There is just something in me that says some boundaries need to be pushed and some don't, and I think this one does. And you'll find something beautiful happens. Postmodernism describes movements that both arise from and react against or reject, trends in modernism. It instead embraced experimentation with new media and art forms including but not limited to things like conceptual art, multimedia, and performance art. Several characteristics lend art to being postmodern. These things include the use of text prominently as the central artistic element, collage, appropriation, simplification, and performance art, then it goes on to also use the recycling of past styles and themes in kind of a modern-day context. Postmodern art refers to a style of contemporary art created from about mid-1900s onwards. This style is best understood by looking at what it sought to contradict,: the perceived traditional values and conservative point of view of the modern artists that were active in the years 1870-1970.

    

Titled Balloon Flower (red) 

History

This sculpture is made by Jeff Koons. He made five of them in different colors between 1995-2000. They ranged in colors blue, magenta, yellow, orange, and red. It sits at the World Trade Center site in New York City. It is made out of Stainless Steel. and weighs more than a ton and it stands over 10 feet tall. 

Analysis

These towering sculptures inspired by balloon animals are Koons most famous works of art to date. It is said that its shiny exterior is supposed to "seduce and manipulate." The surface of the Balloon Flower evokes the shininess of precious metals. Since it actually really is metal, its reflective, yet immaculate surface and perfectly concealed joints invite us to marvel at the symmetry and perfection of the objects. But when you walk up close to it, something neat happens. The overall composition fades, and you're confronted by his or her own distorted, imperfect image. How interesting and neat is that. I find this to be a really neat sculpture and would love to get up close to one. If they had small ones you could use for a shelf or desk I think it would be a neat conversation piece.  

Titled Temperance

History

This sculpture is by a French American artist Niki Saint Phalle. It is from her Nana series. This piece resides at the Tarot Garden, Southern Tuscany, Italy, and was made in 1987. The original statues she started out with mesh wire that she covered in paper mache then went on to make use of fabric and found objects and as more were created, Saint Phalle used polyester, ceramic, and other things to make the statues more curvaceous.

Analysis

Niki's Nana series of statues were originally inspired by a pregnant friend of Saint Phalle's Her Nana series are shaped into female sculptures in outrageously modern contortions and bright colors brought her some notarization. Niki also designed and created this fantasy garden in Tuscany with large colorful figures and shapes that were based on Tarot cards. This sculpture is a model of Temperance, card number 14. Interesting right? The full-size piece crowns the Chapel of Temperance in the garden in Italy. She definitely broke boundaries with her artistic sculptures. They're not concerned with the fortune-telling uses of the cards, but rather the elements of life's experience, personality, and self-knowledge they really refer to. These sculptures have lines that are curvy and well rounded all shapes that are a great representation of women. As a true feminist rebelling against the patriarchy and women's assigned role of homemakers, Niki de Saint Phalle created these models that represented a certain joy for life and liberty. They are eyeless and they are found in unexpected stances that show the real challenge to laws of anatomy, gravity, and weight. I think it would be neat to have one of her small sculptures in true nana form on a desk. I would love to see the big sculptures if I ever get the chance.

 Her "Nana" sculptures are designed to liberate women from the straightjacket of 1960s society.

Titled Hon

History

This sculpture is another one of Niki de Saint Phalle's. But this time she collaborated with Jean Tinguely and Per Olof Ultvedt. It was a temporary exhibit called Hon- en cathedral (She-a Cathedral) in 1966 at the Modern Art Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, which was devoted to creating a massive pregnant sculpture that people could come and interact with. It was 25m (82 ft) long and 9.1 m (30 ft) wide weighed in around 6 tons and took a team of 8 about 40 days to create.

Analysis

First off I think it would be really interesting and neat to go to an exhibit like this. This sculpture is a giant form of the female body from the waist down and it is lying down with knees up and feet planted. You can walk through the door-sized Vaginal opening between her legs. They had a milk bar that was in one breast, and they deposited waste down a chute into Tingley's formidable glass-breaking machine below. Which kind of feels like it was something of a digestive system. A goldfish pond occupied the area of the womb. Ultvedts heart was not simply a flapping, rocking, pumping shape, but a man could be found in HON's heart. They also had a brain with mechanical parts by Jean Tingley. With this artwork, Saint Phalle reclaimed the woman's body as a site of tactile pleasure rather than just an object of voyeuristic viewing. Hon was both, a colorful yet playful homage to woman as nurturer and a potent demythologizer of male romantic of the female body, as an unknown content and unknowable reality. Niki de Saint Phalle often presented images of women that ran counter to formalist aesthetics of the Pop art era, when all we had were pin-ups and slick nudes. They used bright colors on the outside and inside all in black. Very contrasting. They used the curvaceous shapes of women on the outside. I think all these illusions were intentional. HON transformed a very random idea occurring on the inside into something new, giving it a meaning that it would never have had on the outside of the sculpture. This one makes me giggle and I would never want it in my house but would love to visit one. Breaking that artistic norms and boundaries yet again!

Titled Fillette (Sweeter Version) 

History

This was made by Louise Bourgeois and American French artist. Its size is 59.7 x 26.7 x 19.7 cm. It is made out of latex over plaster. It is in the Estate of Peter Moore, Museum of Modern Art, New York. 

Analysis

In the late 1960s and 1970s, many American women artists were drawing on images from the body. As people enter the 20th century, vaginal shapes become three dimensional, rising up from their surface in ways some have actually found quite beautiful, others essentialist and reductive, and still others threatening. The human body is a natural part of life. Why not put it on display since it is a beautiful thing? Bourgeois has certainly used female sexuality in her works, but by the 1960s she was more androgynous or maybe even masculine in her choices of subject. Her most famous and most photographed "erotic" work is her latex sculpture Fillette 1968, which playfully confuses genders. She combined her themes of confinement, power, and sexuality in a series of cages, or cells. This piece Bourgeois achieved a fleshy, tactile texture in this hanging sculpture. Well, you guessed it, it obviously is a phallus, but if you look at it, it can also be in the shape of a female torso. The two round forms are the tops of two legs, attaching to their hip joints. This molding of genders creates ambiguity, as do the work's dual qualities of erect potency and fragile vulnerability. "From a sexual point of view," Bourgeois said, "I consider the masculine attributes to be very delicate."(Louise Bourgeois) I find this art neat, and would love to see it in a museum, but not at home.

Titled Cacoon

History

This artwork was painted by Christina Michalopoulou and was painted in oil on canvas. It is 27.5" x 39.4". It comes from the "Selfie" series and was included in the "HerStory" exhibition. 

Analysis

Michalopoulou once said "I always try to narrate a story through the lines of a body, through a scar, a wounded skin, a sight or touch. At the beginning of every painting I fall in love with the story, the body, the skin, and the feeling, I get deep into it and when it comes to an end I always feel exhausted and empty. It's an addiction" (Phillips). She uses the female body to show her lines and it creates a different emotion depending on who you are I think. If you have curled up on the shower floor and laid there crying, this might hit you. If you lay there in bed but love to curl up you would get a different emotion. Myn is just the safety I feel when I am curled into this position brings good emotions. This piece would be cool to put over my bed at home.

Titled Torn and Twisted Curtain

History

This piece was made by Joseph Havel in the years 2004-2005. Its top corners are spread to 16 feet wide but the overall dimensions are w61 x h 487.7 x d 71.1 cm. It is balanced on a knotted foot of curtain. Its medium is Bronze with Patina. Between 1996-2006 Havel made 30 sculptures that were made from cloth and cast in bronze. 

Analysis

I am finishing out my post-modern blog with this piece. Who would of thought with a piece of cloth you could make artwork that would inspire others. He took something as simple as a plain boring sheet and made something extraordinary. This piece is almost motionless and appears to be floating in space with no gravity. This piece has different textures using cloth and bronze. The lines in it are wonky and definitely don't have those neat lines or curvy ones of some of the other sculptures. It almost looks as if you have just pulled some sheets out of the dryer and they are all bound up and you have to twist them out of a ball. That is what this feels like. Something all tied up and twisted into a knot. I wouldn't want this piece in my house. But this piece really shows he was thinking outside the regular norms of modern art. 

Throughout history, art has served as a powerful tool for self-expression and social commentary. From the earliest cave paintings to modern-day sculptures and masterpieces, individuals have went on to use art to make statements about the world and their place in it. It is fascinating to dig deeper into it and see how it changes throughout the years. I hope you enjoyed my blog today. Thank you for reading it and commenting.

Resources

Deng, Connie. "Niki de Saint Phalle". Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Oct.     2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Niki-de-Saint-Phalle. Accessed    April 2024.

“Visualizing Birth and Rebirth in Niki de Saint Phalle’s ‘Hon – En Katedral’ (‘she – a Cathedral’).” Visualizing Birth, 21 July 2023, visualizingbirth.org/visualizing-birth-and-rebirth-in-niki-de-saint-phalles-hon-en-katedral-she-a-cathedral. 

“Fillette [Louise Bourgeois].” Sartle, 30 Aug. 2022, www.sartle.com/artwork/fillette-louise-bourgeois#:~:text=Bourgeois%20herself%20said%2C%20%E2%80%9CFrom%20a,torso%20with%20a%20severed%20head.

Phillips, Renee. “Home.” Manhattan Arts International, manhattanarts.com/interview-with-artist-christina-michalopoulou/. Accessed 15 Apr. 2024.

Early Modern Era

The Rise of African American Art in the Early Modern Era 

After the end of the Civil War, many things changed in the arts. There were so many political changes and growths at this time, one of which can be considered one of the most influential developments in art in the Early Modern Era. This of course is actually The Harlem Renaissance and the influence of the African-American culture along with the community during this time period. It turned out to be very influential. African American artists have used art to preserve community memory and history as well as empower so many cultural movements of the time like Harlem Renaissance, hip-hop, and Black Arts just to name a few.

History

This Artwork is by Henry O Tanner and he painted it with oil on canvas. It is called One really neat part, Tanner did was he actually mixed sand into his pigments to emulate the texture. The sand dunes are constructed with a bold sweep of windblown beach bordered by the sand dunes,  The landscape was the first painting created by an African American to be part of the permanent White House collection. 

Analysis

This painting's view is something you would see far away from beaches where people sit on the beach and there are crowds. To me, it's like someone is on a walk headed to the water's edge. He has painted some scrubby vegetation you see that grows in clumps of seagrass that you find on a beach. The sun tries to peak out with a rosy glow, and you can almost feel the wind on your face from this painting. If you have ever been to a beach on a windy day you know what I mean. Tanner's painting is strikingly original. It has a serenity like other landscape artists of the time have. Elements of composition and tonal expression, from the broad bands of shadow, the cupped landscape to the hazy moon can be found in this painting. 

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History

This artwork was painted with oil on canvas in 1934 by Aaron Douglas. It is titled From Slavery through Reconstruction. There are four paintings in this collection of murals, the collection is called Aspects of Negro Life. They are displayed at the New York Public Library. I think his paintings show a lot of the emotion going on through the African American community at the time. They show this desire to change how the African-American people's history was perceived by the public. And it is a powerful message.

Analysis

Douglas's style gives this wonderful layered look. Can this represent something? Maybe the layers of their past, or history? He uses many different symbols that are actually important to historical changes. One of my big questions is why he uses shadows, it gives me the impression that he is trying to represent many people in the community. They aren't grouped into one style or characteristic. There is both flatness and depth to it. The characters are silhouetted and layered on this vibrant background that is made of neat geometric looking shapes in earthy tones. It seems like there should be some movement in the painting. His style is abstract, showing the changes and progression that the people had toward freedom during those hard times. 

My thoughts

I have fallen in love with the artwork and styles that came out during the late 180''s and even into the early 1900's. This is when people really start to get a voice and speak out, express themselves, and really take charge of the times and they show this through their artwork. You can really tell what goes on during a period in history by looking at the artwork of that time. During the Early Modern Era, African Americans have a monumental impact on the visual arts being produced at that time. It was the first time in history and a start to the artistic world in which the African-American culture was actually the center of subject matter and they were being painted in a new light. Their culture was able to be expressed through artwork at the time in beautiful and unique ways. One beautiful thing I found was that I really enjoyed seeing how African-American art was finally able to be appreciated but also accepted. What a neat change in the American Art of the time to see. Depending on the artist you see different ways they were inspired, and the different perspectives they have of their period. Both of these paintings are beautiful and unique in their own ways. 

“Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery to Reconstruction, 1934, by Aaron Douglas.” *Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery to Reconstruction*, 1934, by Aaron Douglas. | DPLA, dp.la/primary-source-sets/social-realism/sources/676. Accessed 1 Apr. 2024.

“Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City by Henry Ossawa Tanner.” WHHA (En-US), www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/sand-dunes-at-sunset-atlantic-city-by-henry-ossawa-tanner#:~:text=Henry%20Ossawa%20Tanner-,Sand%20Dunes%20at%20Sunset%2C%20Atlantic%20City%20by%20Henry%20Ossawa%20Tanner,the%20character%20of%20its%20artist. Accessed 1 Apr. 2024.